Central Coast have officially announced the signing of former Wellington striker Blake Powell on a two-year deal earlier today.
The Sydney native leaves the Phoenix having recorded an impressive eight goals in 23 A-League appearances over 2015-16 – including a hat-trick against the Wanderers in February – and wants to bring that dead-eye for goal to Gosford.
“I’m a goalscorer, I want to score more goals than I did last season and be competitive with the team to push for a finals shot,” Powell said.
“At the moment Tony has been playing me as a number 10 in a play maker’s role and I’m liking the amount of freedom and getting a lot more touches on the ball.
“As a striker the ball might not come to you as much so it’s been good, we played on Tuesday night so I am looking to build on the combination play between Roy & Fabio.
“That was the first game I’ve played with Roy and in time I think that combination will work really well,” Powell said.
We've added some extra fire power to the front third 🔥 Welcome, Blake 🔗 https://t.co/yBg0Sckwf0 #CCMFC pic.twitter.com/f5g9Cf06bU
— #CCMFC (@CCMariners) July 14, 2016
Returning to NSW in order to better deal with some off-field personal issues closer to his family, Mariners head coach Tony Walmsley did not have to think long about making a move for the 25-year-old, who should be apart of the squad which faces Green Gully in the FFA Cup Round of 32.
“Blake is a hard worker; has great pace and makes smart forward runs,” Walmsley said.
“When we heard he had returned to NSW for family reasons and had been released by Wellington it made sense to make an approach and I’m delighted to be able to add him to our attacking options for the next two seasons.”
The Mariners begin their FFA Cup campaign at the Green Gully reserve on the 2nd of August.
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